ACTION TO TAKE

PLEASE NOTE THAT PETITIONS DO VERY LITTLE. WE HAVE ORGANISED MANY WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SIGNATURES OBTAINED, BUT NO CHANGE HAS HAPPENED. It is better to write letters as follows:
1. Write letters to your embassy representative in Bosnia:

2. Write letters to international animal welfare organisations – google this for email addresses or go here on Wikipedia for information

please write letters to the media, your MEP, to the Bosnia Tourism Board, any international animal welfare organisation you are connected to, any celebrity you are connected to and to the authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the other organisations listed below.

Your letters should ask for the existing animal welfare law to be enforced (for a full translation of the existing law, please download this PDF); for all Bosnia-Herzegovina public shelters to be investigated for humane conditions and for a humane approach to the stray population control with government funded county-wide spay-neuter and microchipping programs implemented. Also, all owned dogs and cats must be included in these programs by being sterilised and microchipped, as these animals are contributing to the problem; and any abuse of the animal welfare law must be treated with the severest penalties.

Another draft letter can be copied and pasted from this post which also lists email addresses of the EU Eurogroup to send it to (the list is also below), and there are copies of letters you can use below.

Animal Welfare IntergroupThe all-party Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals was created in 1983 in the European Parliament to discuss European and international animal welfare and conservation issues and, where appropriate, take initiatives which can lead to legislation. Attended by representatives from most political groups and nationalities, this influential Intergroup provides a forum for MEPs for debate and for initiating action for a wide range of animal welfare and conservation issues.

Eurogroup for Animals is the leading voice for animal welfare at European Union level providing a voice for the billions of animals kept in laboratories, farms and homes or living in the wild.

The Eurogroup is recognised by the European Parliament and Commission as the leading animal welfare organisation at EU level and represent animal welfare interests on many EU advisory committees and consultation bodies.

Bosnia is currently NOT a member of the EU. If and when Bosnia does join, it will be required to comply with EU Regulations and Directives associated with all issues of animal welfare; from conditions on farms through to conditions in laboratories and regulations for animals in transport.

EDIT : Activists are asking us to be careful with emails. “We need a new approach. We need a new strategy,” they say. It’s possible that angering the Ministers will backfire. I TRUST THIS ADVICE AS I KNOW THE MENTALITY OF THESE PEOPLE. SO FOR NOW PLEASE DO NOT SEND EMAILS OR FAXES TO BIH MINISTERS. PLEASE CONTINUE TO EMAIL EU MEPs, Embassies in Sarajevo and the EU Eurogroup/Intergroup, international welfare organisations! DETAILS BELOW this list of BiH contacts.

PLEASE PERSONALISE, ADD YOUR NAME AT THE BOTTOM AND THE NAME OF THE PERSON YOU ARE SENDING IT TO AT THE TOP. THIS LETTER IS PARTICULARLY FOR MEPS /MPS IN EUROPE BUT CAN BE ALTERED IF NECESSARY FOR SENDING ELSEWHERE.

The following are letters you can use as templates to send to the people above and to EU Members of Parliament and animal welfare organisations and others:

Dear XXX

Millions of citizens care deeply about animal welfare and are sickened to see constant reports of horrific animal cruelty. Countries seeking to acquire EU membership need to demonstrate certain standards of animal care, and so I want to bring to your attention Bosnia and Herzegovina, who are seeking admission, and yet who constantly contravene their own animal welfare laws.

In 2009, the Law on Animal Welfare and Protection entered into force in Bosnia Herzegovina. Amongst other things this law proscribes that owners of dogs and cats are to register their animals at the veterinarian organization and mark them with microchips. Additionally, within the period of one year, institutions were obliged to build humane shelters in which all abandoned and lost animals found on the streets should be placed after being caught by a hygienic service, and in which they would be treated on a humane way and provided adequate veterinarian care. Until then, stray animals could be spayed and turned back to the street, while only sick, aggressive and dogs in agony were to be euthanized.

So far, no legally proscribed measure has been conducted. Since the local authorities have not conducted sufficient neutering campaigns on time and properly, the number of stray dogs has multiplied. Dogs Trust sterilization campaigns nave not been able to significantly reduce the numbers of dogs in Sarajevo. Owners are continuing to abandon their unsterilised dogs or the unsterilised offspring of their pets, so the number of dogs in the Canton Sarajevo still seems to be around several thousands. No one knows the exact number as there is no database. Local authorities built several shelters around Sarajevo in which conditions are even not close to a satisfactory level, animals have no vet care, conditions and treatment are inhumane. These shelters include Praca, Hresa, Gladno Polje and Zunovnica with a maximum capacity of around 600 dogs in total. Dogs often die due to sickness or are attacked by other dogs. Conditions are almost the same as in concentration war camps. Dogs survive thanks to groups of volunteers and animal-friendly citizens of Sarajevo who visit them and provide food and some medicines. Some public companies donate some food or food scraps. Lucky dogs are homed in Bosnia or abroad thanks to volunteers.

Thousands of those remaining on the streets cannot be placed in shelters as they are overcrowded. Furthermore, there is not any official evidence as to how many dogs are taken from the streets, how many arrive in the shelters, what their health condition is, how many are euthanized and for what reason, and how many are currently at the shelters. There is no adequate inspection in practice, no official cooperation with the NGO sector which could make and keep evidence on everything in cooperation with the authorities. Hence dogs are often left at the mercy of employees of the hygienic service and shelter owners. No one knows how many die in between visits of the volunteers and due to what reason.

On 30 June, 2016, Cantonal Government issued a decision which requires A utility company KJKP Rad (Hygienic Service), in collaboration with Veterinary Station and supported by the police, to remove all stray dogs they find on the street. In the course of their action, they take every dog, regardless of whether they are aggressive, sick, spayed (with a visible marked at the plate on the ear) or not. Even babies. While the Government is claiming that this is being done legally and in a human way, the implementation of the conclusion is illegal due to the fact that there is no space and no conditions at the shelters to put new arrivals of dogs. Therefore, it is obvious that hundreds and thousands of dogs taken from the streets are killed.

Furthermore, government public statements have been made with regards to this dog catching stating there is a need to collect aggressive and ill street dogs, which is part of the country’s animal welfare law. The same law prohibits the destruction of healthy dogs. And yet, animal welfare activists have documented healthy and non-aggressive dogs been caught and removed. In addition, the problem of strays in the city is a result of owners either letting their unsterilised dogs free-roam, or because they abandon their unsterilised dogs.

Increased numbers of dogs on the streets is a direct result of irresponsible ownership, with owners either letting their unsterilised dogs free-roam, or because they abandon their unsterilised dogs and because of government failure to implement preventive measures that are provided by the laws, such as punishing those who abandon animals, creating a registration of pets, providing adequate spay/neuter projects with vaccination and tagging of stray animals in an appropriate form and number, and education and information campaigns which are aimed to raise public awareness about the causes of the problem.

The BiH law on Protection and Welfare of Animals very clearly provides solutions for dealing with an overpopulation of stray animals in Bosnia. The first legal obligation of authorities is to build shelters for stray animals, whose purpose is to care for stray animals until they are adopted. Conditions that all shelters must fulfil are outlined in the law.

Regarding registration of pets, for seven years the State Veterinary Office has not enacted the laws on registration, micro-chipping and identification of ownership of animals in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor has established a unified database for registration.

The only way to solve this problem is for municipalities and governments to establish their own database of owned of animal. If the database of tagged animals and owners of animals is established, it will enable the identification, prosecution and punishment of people who abandon the animals.

Also, the dog shelters in this country are documented by animal rescue organisations and activists to be inhumane ‘death camps’ for dogs, and are in fact used for money laundering purposes: money destined for the dogs and the shelters is pocketed.

I am writing to ask your assistance in ensuring that the current ‘dog catching’ service of by the public utility company KJKP Rad Ltd. Sarajevo and Public company “Veterinary station” Ltd. be monitored and investigated to ensure it works according to Bosnian law and that the shelters in Sarajevo and other public shelters in the country have radically improved conditions, and in particular that animal activists be allowed to document and ensure that the laws are applied.

We have been advised by BiH lawyers and activists that as the BiH politicians themselves are involved in stealing of money from illegal shelters and hygienic ‘dog catching’ services, and that since the prosecutors and police officers are also corrupt, the only way to force the BiH political establishment to stop their illegal practises is pressure from international organisations and especially embassies.

The existing Animal Welfare and Protection Act of Bosnia-Herzegovina is in fact a good and enforceable law. The only reason the law is not being enforced is because certain political and professional circles do not want to do it.

The law states that every city and town has to build shelters for stray animals. All shelters for stray animals have to provide a NO KILL policy and adequate care, including veterinary care for the animals housed there. Again, the truth is that the conditions in most public shelters are horrific, with dogs being left for days without water, food or care of any kind. There is documented evidence of this.

As you will be aware, the European Union provides the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina and with many millions of euros worth of financial aid each year. My understanding of the provisos attached to these aid packages is that there is a requirement for the recipient country to abide by EU laws which would include the laws related to animal welfare. The Commission has stated that aligning national animal welfare legislation with EU law is a prerequisite for EU membership.

I would urge you please to raise the above issues with the European Commission and the European Parliament’s Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of animals (http://www.animalwelfareintergroup.eu/) and, critically, with your representatives in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The issue of the failure of the BiH authorities to apply even the barest minimum of the law to ensure the safety of the animals must be addressed. It is imperative that the European Commission and the Parliament discusses this matter with their Bosnia and Herzegovina counterparts.

We urge you to help ensure that the Bosnia Herzegovina authorities implement internationally agreed-upon guiding principles on humane stray dog population control and management, and that resources be allocated to ensure such principles are followed.

EU PARLIAMENT EMAIL ADDRESSESNOTE: We don’t have the resources to ensure this list is kept up to date. It would be much better if you went to clickable map of Europe on this EU Parliament website Click on a country, and this will bring up a list of MEPs. Click on the profile of the MEP the email address will appear on the right hand side. This means you can send a personalised email to each MEP.

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27 thoughts on “ACTION TO TAKE”

Letter in Dutch to send to the Netherlands, if you can attach the photographs above, but also send the email without attachments as I think it might not get past their spam filters.
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Great work Sandra. I would have translated it, but thank-you, you have already done it. I will forward your translation to many addresses. We need to remember that every emil, every telephone call helps.

How do we change the cultural mentality? We need to start with children and educate them that animal cruelty is not acceptable. We need to create an attitude change, starting with children so that we break the chain early enough in their development.

I’m just casting out a thought here. Can such education be a part of schools? Is there anyone who would like to comment or who has similar thoughts?

Kathy, I’m in total agreement about education. Dog’s Trust Bosnia does do some education in schools, and a priority for Jelena with Zivot is also education – but her organisation right now has no funds, unfortunately. But absolutely, I think this is the only way any long term change will happen.

Hi sandra, sent you an e mail, but no worries, great work, have got up to Hungary, photos were included, links were red, but when hit as a trial did link with success. Any news of Jennie, any homes for the 3, thank you all for your dedication….Angela E

Angela.. I don’t think I got your email? Can you re-send? (sandra@sandrajensen.net). Thanks so much for all your work! Jenny is doing better, not much but some. The fact she’s still with us is a good sign. Clooney might have a home, but Jenny and Grace will need a forever home.

I’ve just sent to the block email adresses of the EU parliament, United Kingdom and Bulgaria with the english letter ; then I’ll send french letter to france and belgium and the other letters in the language of the country you’ve made ; but for all the other countries can I send the english letter please ?
thanks for the BIG work you’ve done !!!!!!!
I am going to share this information in order other people motived who want do the same !!!!!

I have sent to the European Perliament, but all those returned as spam! Maria L. Magri – These recipients of your message have been processed by the mail server:okruzno@teol.net; Failed; 5.7.1 (Sospetto spam: se ritieni si tratti di un errore, segnala il problema inoltrando questo messaggio a segnala_nospam@libero.it )

Wow Sandra, amazing work. I have sent a letter to 18 recipients in Bosnia as well as the Canadian Embassy. I will also send one to some EU contacts here. I wish I could do more, it’s horrific to see what is happening in Romania and Bosnia. I’ve been to a lot of countries that don’t have shelters or a system in place to help dogs, but the people do. Most civilized societies would never act this way, truthfully, I would never go to Bosnia because of this, I don’t think I would have anything in common with the people or have anything to gain by a trip to Bosnia. It’s outrageous,.

I remember the war ~ the things they did to each other were barbaric. Croats, Serbians, Muslims~ if they could torture and kill each other is there any hope for the animals? II pray they find compassion and humanity and stop this disgusting holocaust against a defenseless domestic animal. How do these people sleep at night? Please stop this horrific practice. Let the world see you as a civilized country and not the sadistic barbarians we are seeing right now .